It all comes down to this

AUSSIE SPORTS
Four in a row?

🏀 NBL Game Report: Isaac Humphries found some form, DJ Vasiljevic once again torched his favourite opponents and the Adelaide 36ers opened their account while inflicting more pain on the South East Melbourne Phoenix (who remain winless after 4 matches) with a 93-83 win.

🏏 Alyssa Healy’s team will then begin their quest for an unprecedented fourth consecutive title on October 5 at 2pm (8pm AEST) when they meet an in-form Sri Lanka at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Australia are ($1.75) to lift the trophy.

All 23 matches will be shown live on Amazon's Prime Video online subscription streaming service in Australia after the internet giant acquired the Aussie broadcast rights for all ICC events for 2024-27.

The top-spot finisher in the group will meet the second-place finisher in the two semi-finals, with the winners progressing to the final in Dubai.

🏀 What do we think about Giddey in a Bulls jersey?

NRL NEWS
Never Again

🏉 Craig Bellamy has ruled himself out of the vacant NSW Blues coaching job and the Melbourne Storm master coach has put something of an end date on his tenure declaring he won’t see “70” as a coach.

But 65-year-old Bellamy, who has had one unsuccessful stint with NSW while also trying to coach the Storm, said the role should be taken by someone who isn’t working full-time with an NRL club.

“I would never try that again. It needs someone independent of coaching in the NRL. That’s my opinion.”

👨🏻‍⚖️ Raiders prop Josh Papalii is set to face court over a late-night incident at a Canberra league club.

The 32-year-old NRL star will have to attend the ACT Magistrates Court for allegedly intimidating police and failing to quit a licensed premises, ACT Policing revealed on Thursday.

About 3am on September 16, police were called to an incident regarding three men who were "behaving aggressively towards each other and staff, and throwing glasses".

🙋🏼‍♀️ NRLW GF: Perennial powerhouse the Roosters will go up against the Sharks in a grand final nobody was predicting before the season kicked off.

While the Roosters always have high hopes of playing for premiership and will this year will feature in their fourth decider in seven seasons, Cronulla have been the surprise packet of the year, making the grand final in just their second season in the competition. 

The last time the Roosters and Sharks clashed in Round 7, it was a one-sided affair with the Chooks proving far to strong, but Cronulla will be determined to put in a much bigger fight and produce a performance fitting of the big stage. 

AFL NEWS
Trade Season

🔁 Public Service Announcement: The 2024 AFL Trade Period begins on Monday October 7 at 11am AEDT, and finishes on Wednesday October 16 at 7:30pm AEDT.

The AFL free agency period begins today at 9am AEST, and finishes on Friday October 11 at 5pm AEDT.

The AFL Draft will be held on Wednesday November 20 and Thursday November 21.

👋🏼 Premiership forward Joe Daniher has called time on his illustrious career, with Brisbane officially confirming his decision on Thursday afternoon.

Across his 204 games at the top level, he kicked 395 goals — winning the leading goalkicker award four times at Essendon and twice at the Lions.

“I retire knowing I gave my absolute all to the Brisbane Lions and Essendon, and I am extremely proud of what I achieved individually and as a team,” Daniher said in a club statement on Thursday.

GRAND FINAL PREVIEW
History Beckons

For the second time in five years, the Melbourne Storm (1.87) and Penrith Panthers (1.98) will meet in the NRL Grand Final, as the two most dominant sides of the past decade prepare to do battle once again.

The Storm were victorious in 2020 as they welcomed the crop of Penrith youngsters to the big stage, however, the Panthers are now well-experienced under pressure as they hunt for a historic fourth consecutive premiership (and has won each of its last 11 Finals matches).

Craig Bellamy will be hoping for his fourth trophy with the Storm, but they will have to do so without influential forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona following his suspension.

After playing together since they were kids, Cleary and Luai will play their final NRL game together on Sunday and have a chance to win a fourth straight title from their fifth straight decider together. 

Tui Kamikamica takes his spot in the run-on side while young forward Lazarus Vaalepu has been given the nod to join the bench. No changes to the Penrith side that did the job over Cronulla, with Matt Eisenhuth named to play in his first grand final as three-time premiership winner Scott Sorensen remains among the reserves. 

📺 Sunday 19:30 - Channel 9

📊 TEAM STATS:

• Penrith has scored the first try in each of its last six Finals matches.

• Each of Melbourne's last six matches have gone OVER the total match points line.

🙋🏻‍♂️ PLAYER STATS:

• Dylan Edwards has scored a try in each of Penrith's last two matches against Melbourne in Sydney. (2.85)

• Brian To'o has been the first try-scorer in three of Penrith's last five finals matches. (8.75)

• Harry Grant and Eliesa Katoa have combined for two or more tries in five of their last six appearances together.

• Jahrome Hughes has scored at least one try in three of his last four appearances. (3.30)

WORLD NEWS
Knee Bag

⚽️ UEFA Football: Erik Ten Hag lives to fight another day. His Manchester United side went from two nil up, to 3-2, until slab-head Harry Maguire nodded home an equaliser in the 91st minute.

Ange’s Tottenham made it two victories from their two Europa League games as their youthful side won 2-1 in Hungary against Ferencvaros.

🦵🏽LIFE KNEE SAVER technology: A London-based start-up claims it can prevent up to 80 percent of ACL injuries with its AI programmed knee brace, in what could be the holy grail in ending the injury crisis which plagues women’s sport.

Using a pair of sensors placed at the top and bottom of the brace, Artificial Intelligence detects when the joint is approaching breaking point and deploys an airbag which stops the motion of the knee.

Co-creators of Hippos Exoskeleton Kylin Shaw and Bhavy Metakar claim the airbag is deployed in less than 25 milliseconds, faster than the 60 milliseconds it takes a ligament to rupture.

“When the AI detects an awkward movement it uses five milliseconds to make a decision if that movement is going to cause you a ACL or MCL tear,” Shaw said.

“If the answer is yes then the microchip embedded in the brace will inflate the airbag and tighten around the knee, providing you with a buffer zone and support.

“Then the airbag deflates, and you can go back onto the court and continue to play. It is completely reusable.”

An ACL tear is one of the most common knee injuries and can be caused by sharp changes in direction, stopping suddenly, and landing incorrectly, resulting in months of rehabilitation and in some cases surgery.

Female athletes are eight times more likely to experience an ACL rupture than their male counter parts.

In the AFLW alone there are 33 players across all 18 clubs recovering from knee injuries at the time of publishing, 24 are ACL injuries.

Argument against; The last thing you want to see is the airbag deploying when a player is lining up for goal.

⚽️ Miami clinches best record: Inter Miami clinched its first MLS Supporters' Shield with two goals from, who else, Lionel Messi, who has now won a record 46 trophies in his career.‌

🎾 Alcaraz tops Sinner: Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner to win the China Open in a battle of the world's top two players, breaking the Italian's 15-match win streak.

⚽️ EPL Whispers: Arsenal and Manchester City are among the clubs competing to sign Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.

Eddie Howe and Graham Potter are the leading candidates to replace Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag and Southampton boss Russell Martin coming under increasing pressure. 

🍔 Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie says improving the fitness of his squad is a key focus as they prepare for the first of three Tests against England starting in Multan on Monday.

🏀 Julius Randle said although he was initially shocked to be traded [by the Knicks],  he now feels invigorated to join another championship contender and do what he could to help add to the Wolves' existing core. 

👊🏼 Boxing superstar Terence Crawford said Wednesday he rejected a deal to fight UFC great Conor McGregor because he didn't want to participate in a mixed martial arts fight.

In separate interviews, Crawford and McGregor revealed that Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, had offered them a two-fight agreement, with one in boxing and the other in MMA. McGregor said they would have been paid "hundreds of millions."

But while McGregor was ready to compete in both sports, Crawford declined.

🎾 Coco Gauff is through to the semi-finals of the China Open for a second consecutive year after coming from behind to beat Yuliia Starodubtseva.

The American - ranked sixth in the world - has had a difficult year having failed to reach a Grand Slam final and losing in the third round of the Paris Olympics.

The remaining quarter-finals will take place today with top seed Aryna Sabalenka facing Karolina Muchova, and Mirra Andreeva taking on fifth seed Qinwen Zheng.

🏏 Sri Lanka spinner Praveen Jayawickrama has been handed a one-year ban from all forms of cricket for breaching the anti-corruption code.

Jayawickrama was charged with three breaches of the code by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in August after failing to report an approach to fix matches and obstructing an investigation.

⛵️ Great Britain have moved closer to securing a place in the America's Cup for the first time since 1964 as Ben Ainslie's Ineos Britannia team took a 6-4 lead over Italy. The British team require one more point to win the first-to-seven Louis Vuitton Cup series.

The winners will challenge defending champions New Zealand for the 37th America's Cup from 12-17 October.

SHARE SPORT JOURNAL

The best thing you can do to help us grow, is share Sport Journal with your friends & colleagues, even that bloke at the pub…

📲 Share it with the group chat via WhatsApp HERE

🧑🏻‍💻 Share the link with a friend to sign up HERE

TODAY 

06:00 - PGA TOUR - Sanderson Farms Championship, Round 1 - Fox Sports

06:08 - MLB Wild Card Series - Baltimore Orioles v Kansas City Royals - ESPN

09:08 - National League Wild Card Series - San Diego Padres v Atlanta Braves - ESPN 2

10:15 - NFL - Atlanta Falcons v Tampa Bay Buccaneers - ESPN

10:38 - MLB Wild Card Series - Milwaukee Brewers v New York Mets - ESPN 2

16:05 - NPC - Northland v Otago - Stan Sport App

19:30 - NBL - Cairns Taipans v Tasmania JackJumpers - ESPN

21:30 - NBL - Perth Wildcats v Melbourne United - ESPN

SATURDAY

03:00 - NHL - Buffalo Sabres v New Jersey Devils - ESPN

04:45 - Premiership Rugby - Northampton Saints v Harlequins - Stan Sport App

04:45 - Premiership Rugby - Sale Sharks v Gloucester Rugby - Stan Sport App

05:00 - Super League - Hull Kingston Rovers v Warrington Wolves - Fox League

06:00 - PGA TOUR - Sanderson Farms Championship, Round 2 - Fox Sports

11:05 - NPC - Manawatu v Counties Manukau - Stan Sport App

13:35 - NPC - Wellington Lions v Hawke's Bay - Stan Sport App

13:35 - NPC - Southland v North Harbour - Stan Sport App

16:05 - NPC - Canterbury Rugby v Waikato - Stan Sport App

17:30 - NBL - Illawarra Hawks v Adelaide 36ers - ESPN

20:00 - NBL - Brisbane Bullets v Sydney Kings - ESPN

21:30 - Premier League - Crystal Palace v Liverpool - Optus Sport 1

00:00 - Premier League - Manchester City v Fulham - Optus Sport 2

00:00 - Premier League - Brentford v Wolverhampton Wanderers - Optus Sport 7

00:00 - Premier League - Arsenal v Southampton - Optus Sport 4

00:00 - Premier League - Leicester City v Bournemouth - Optus Sport 6

00:00 - Premier League - West Ham United v Ipswich Town - Optus Sport 5

00:00 - NHL - New Jersey Devils v Buffalo Sabres - ESPN

SUNDAY

00:05 - Premiership Rugby - Bath Rugby v Bristol Bears - Stan Sport App

03:30 - Super League - Wigan Warriors v Leigh Leopards - Fox League

03:30 - Premier League - Everton v Newcastle United - Optus Sport 1

03:30 - Premiership Rugby - Newcastle Falcons v Leicester Tigers - Stan Sport App

07:00 - PGA TOUR - Sanderson Farms Championship, Round 3 - Fox Sports

12:05 - NPC - Tasman Mako v Taranaki - Stan Sport App

13:00 - UFC 307 Main Card - Alex Pereira v Khalil Rountree - Main Event

13:20 - NRL State Championship Grand Final - Newtown Jets v Norths Devils - Channel 9, Fox League

14:30 - NBL - Melbourne United v Cairns Taipans - Channel 10, ESPN

14:35 - NPC - Auckland Rugby v Bay of Plenty - Stan Sport App

16:30 - NBL - Tasmania JackJumpers v Perth Wildcats - 10 Bold, ESPN

19:30 - NRL Grand Final - Melbourne Storm v Penrith Panthers - Channel 9